Hold type image display system

ABSTRACT

The present invention aims to prevent display luminance difference and burning with a line at which the polarity inversion switches when the order of inversion of black and video changes in the middle of the screen by a frame polarity inversion drive in a liquid crystal display device for performing black insertion drive. An enable signal (VOE) to each gate driver  5 A to  5 N is independently controlled, a start pulse (VSP) input to write a black signal is performed at an arbitrary timing within one frame period with respect to the gate driver  5 A to insert a black image within one frame period, a write polarity of the video signal is inverted in frame cycle with the video display start pulse as a base point, and a write polarity of the black image signal is inverted in frame cycle with the black display start pulse as a base point.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromJapanese patent application No. 2007-086191, filed on Mar. 29, 2007, andJapanese patent application No. 2008-039352, filed on Feb. 20, 2008, thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to image display devices and image displaymethods thereof, and image display programs, in particular, to a holdtype image display system.

2. Description of the Related Art

A liquid crystal display (LCD) is being widely used since it is thin anddoes not occupy as much installation area compared to a CRT (Cathode RayTube) display. However, in the hold type display device such as LCD, animage is continued through a frame period as opposed to an impulse typedisplay device such as CRT display, and thus a moving image tends tobecome unclear.

In the case of the impulse type display device, an image is displayed asa pulse at an early stage in the frame and a black display is displayeduntil the next frame, and thus the afterimage occurrence is adjusted notto be recognized by the user's eyes. In the case of the hold typedisplay device, on the other hand, the image is held and displayed as astill image within the frame period, and the moving image is displayedby switching the screen for every frame, and thus the still image isseamlessly switched from one frame to another, whereby the userrecognizes the previous frame image as an afterimage, senses a doubleimage in which the shifted images are overlapped and recognizes a movingimage blur. In order to reduce the moving image blur in the hold typedisplay device, a hold type display device for pseudo-driving in animpulse type display is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No.3385530 (patent document 1) and Japanese Laid-Open Patent PublicationNo. 2001-166280 (patent document 2).

Since the liquid crystal generally deteriorates when a direct currentcomponent is applied to the liquid crystal over a long period of time inthe liquid crystal display device, a frame inversion drive of invertingthe voltage polarity applied to the pixel for every frame is performed.

However, in most liquid crystal display devices pseudo-driven in theimpulse type display, a black signal and a video signal are alternatelywritten to each pixel at a constant cycle, and thus only the blacksignal is written in one polarity and only the video signal is writtenin the other polarity if the cycle of inversion drive and the cycle ofblack insertion coincide, whereby the DC component is applied to theliquid crystal panel causing burning of the liquid crystal panel anddegradation in lifetime.

In the method disclosed in patent document 1, in order to improve suchdrawbacks, the polarity is inverted at a cycle of double the cycle ofblack insertion in the black insertion drive of alternately repeatingthe black signal and the video signal for every frame. In the case ofthe black insertion drive repeated for every frame, to which pixel ofthe display screen each black signal is used can be easily defined, andthus burning of the liquid crystal panel and degradation in lifetime canbe avoided by forming a sequence with the switching of the frames of thevideo signal as a base point.

However, in the display device of patent document 2 configured as shownin FIG. 18, since the black insertion drive of inserting the black imageat a specific proportion within one frame is performed, to which pixelof the display screen the black signal is used differs depending on ablack insertion rate, and the black signal is positioned in the middleof the display screen at the switching of the frames of the videosignal, whereby it is difficult to form a sequence of inversion with theswitching of the frames of the video signal as the base point.

Patent document 1 discloses a method of inverting the polarity for everytwo outputs of the video signal and the black signal following thereto,where if such method is used in the device of patent document 2, theorder of inversion of the black signal and the video signal changes atthe middle of the screen, as shown in FIG. 19, whereby luminancedifference and burning might occur at the display with a line as aboundary at which the polarity inversion switches according to variationin field through of the panel surface and variation in positive andnegative of the application voltage (see FIG. 20).

It is an exemplary object of the present invention to provide a holdtype image display system capable of flexibly responding to switching ofblack insertion rate, and capable of preventing display luminancedifference and burning at the line at which the polarity inversionswitches as a boundary.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To achieve the exemplary object, a hold type image display systemaccording to an exemplary aspect of the invention relates to a hold typeimage display system for displaying a video on a display panel bycontrolling a video signal to be input to a source line and a gate lineof the display panel, the hold type image display system including asource driver for outputting a video signal to the source line; a gatedriver for outputting a scanning signal to the gate line; and acontroller for receiving an input video signal and thereby controllingthe source driver and the gate driver; wherein the controller outputs avideo signal in which a black or gray line is inserted between videolines to the source driver, outputs a start pulse signal for writing thevideo lines for one or more times and a start pulse signal for writingblack or gray lines for one or more times to the gate driver within oneframe period, inverts a write polarity of the video signal and a writepolarity of the black or gray signal in frame cycle, and scrolls a blackband in a screen of the display panel during one frame.

A control system of the hold type image display system according toanother exemplary aspect of the invention relates to a control system ofa hold type image display system for displaying a video on a displaypanel by controlling a video signal to a source line of the displaypanel in a source driver and controlling a signal to a gate line of thedisplay panel in a gate driver; the control system including acontroller for receiving an input video signal and thereby controllingthe source driver and the gate driver; wherein the controller outputs avideo signal in which a black or gray line is inserted between videolines to the source driver, outputs a start pulse signal for writing thevideo lines for one or more times and a start pulse signal for writingblack or gray lines for one or more times to the gate driver within oneframe period, inverts a write polarity of the video signal and a writepolarity of the black or gray signal in frame cycle, and scrolls a blackband in a screen of the display panel during one frame.

A hold type image display method according to still another exemplaryaspect of the invention relates to a hold type image display method fordisplaying a video on a display panel by controlling a video signal to asource line of a display panel in a source driver and controlling asignal to a gate line of the display panel in a gate driver, the holdtype image display method including the steps of outputting a videosignal in which a black or gray line is inserted between video lines tothe source driver; outputting a start pulse signal for writing the videolines for one or more times and a start pulse signal for writing blackor gray lines for one or more times to the gate driver within one frameperiod; scrolling a black band in a screen of the display panel duringone frame; and inverting a write polarity of the video signal and awrite polarity of the black or gray signal in frame cycle.

A control program of the hold type image display system according tostill another exemplary aspect of the invention relates to a controlprogram of a hold type image display system for displaying a video on adisplay panel by controlling a signal to a source line of a displaypanel in a source driver and controlling a signal to a gate line of thedisplay panel in a gate driver, the control program of the hold typeimage display causing a computer to execute a function of outputting avideo signal in which a black or gray line is inserted between videolines to the source driver; a function of outputting a start pulsesignal for writing the video lines and a start pulse signal for writingblack or gray lines to the gate driver; a function of inverting a writepolarity of the video signal and a write polarity of the black or graysignal in frame cycle; and a function of scrolling a black band in ascreen of the display panel during one frame.

As an exemplary advantage according to the invention, the presentinvention can finely adjust the black image insertion rate with respectto one frame period while taking into consideration the balance betweenthe merit of reducing the moving image blur and the demerit of loweringin luminance in the hold type display device, and display luminancedifference and burning having a line at which the polarity inversionswitches as a boundary caused by variation in field through of thedisplay panel surface and variation in positive and negative ofapplication voltage are prevented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a view showing a configuration of an image display device ofa first exemplary embodiment according to the present invention, FIG. 1Bis a cross sectional view showing a configuration of a pixel, and FIG.1C is a view showing another configuration example of a controller;

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a step of creating a blackinsertion image signal in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 3 is a view showing a polarity of each pixel when a dot inversiondrive is adopted;

FIG. 4 is a view showing a polarity of each pixel when a vertical 2-dotinversion drive is adopted;

FIG. 5 is a view showing a polarity of each pixel when another exampleof the vertical 2-dot inversion drive is adopted;

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing one example of a frame polarityinversion drive in the image display device of the exemplary embodimentshown in FIG. 1A;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are timing charts of a signal propagating through theimage display device of the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the image displaydevice of the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1A;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are explanatory views showing a moving image display inthe image display device of the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the imagedisplay device of the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing another example of the step ofcreating a black insertion image signal in the exemplary embodimentshown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 12 is a view showing a configuration of an image display deviceaccording to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of a black insertion ratesetting unit according to the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a view showing relation characteristics of the black imageinsertion rate, and the moving image blur and transmissive efficiency inthe display panel of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a view showing the operation of the black insertion ratesetting unit in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 16 is a view showing the operation of the black insertion ratesetting unit in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 17 is a view showing a relationship characteristic of the maximumvalue of the movement distance of each block calculated by the blackinsertion rate setting unit and the black insertion rate and lightcontrol luminance of a backlight in the exemplary embodiment shown inFIG. 12;

FIG. 18 is a view showing a configuration of an image display device ofa related art;

FIG. 19 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the imagedisplay device of the related art; and

FIG. 20 is an explanatory view showing a display screen in the imagedisplay device of the related art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described indetail based on the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 12, a hold type image display systemaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention addressesa hold type image display system for displaying a video on a displaypanel by controlling signals to be input to source lines H1, H2, . . . ,Hn and gate lines V1, V2, . . . , Vn of the display panel, and includesa source driver 4 for outputting a video signal to the source lines H1,H2, Hn, gate drivers 5A, 5B, . . . , 5N for outputting a scanning signalto the gate lines V1, V2, . . . , Vn, and a controller 7 for drivecontrolling the source driver and the gate driver, as a basicconfiguration. The controller 7 outputs a video signal (hereinafterreferred to as black insertion video signal) in which a black line(hereinafter referred to as just “black” collectively) is insertedbetween the video lines to the source driver 4 (FIGS. 2 and 8 etc.),outputs a start pulse signal for writing the video lines for one or moretimes and a start pulse signal for writing a black line for one or moretimes to the gate drivers 5A, 5B, . . . , 5N within one frame period,and inverts the write polarity of the video signal and the writepolarity of the black signal in frame cycle (FIGS. 3 to 7 etc.)

In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the video isdisplayed on the display panel by controlling the signal to the sourceline of the display panel in the source driver and controlling thesignal to the gate line of the display panel in the gate driver, wherein the video display, a video signal in which a black line is insertedbetween the video lines is output to the source driver, a start pulsesignal for writing the video lines and a start pulse signal for writinga black line are output to the gate drivers, and the write polarity ofthe video signal and the write polarity of the black signal are invertedin frame cycle.

Specifically describing, the controller 7 determines the black insertionrate when data of black insertion rate is input to the controller 7 bydetermination of each user, and the like. Furthermore, the controller 7inserts the black signal between the lines of the input video signal.The controller 7 inputs a control signal of the driver including apolarity inverting signal (POL) determined at a timing complying withthe black insertion rate along with the video signal inserted with theblack signal to the gate drivers 5A, 5B, . . . , 5N and the sourcedriver 4.

The details of the black insertion drive in the exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention will be described using FIGS. 2 and 7. As shown inFIG. 2, the controller 7 inputs the video signal in which the blacksignal is inserted between the lines of the video signal to the sourcedriver 4. The source driver 4 alternately outputs the video signal andthe black signal to the display panel in the order of input signal.

Specifically describing, when writing the video signal to one of thelines of the gate driver 5A and writing the black signal to one of thelines of the gate driver 5B of the gate drivers 5A, 5B, . . . , 5N in 1Hperiod, as shown in FIG. 7A, the controller 7 inputs a video signalwrite enable signal (VOE_i) for turning OFF the gate to the gate driver5A during the period the source driver 4 outputs the black signal, andinputs a black signal write enable signal (VOE_b) for turning OFF thegate to the gate driver 5B during the period the source driver 4 outputsthe video signal.

On the other hand, when writing the black signal to one of the lines ofthe gate driver 5A and writing the video signal to one of the lines ofthe gate driver 5B in 1H period, as shown in FIG. 7B, the controller 7inputs the black signal write enable signal (VOE_b) to the gate driver5A, and inputs the video signal write enable signal (VOE_i) to the gatedriver 5B.

Thus, the video signal and the black signal can be written to two linesat different positions in the 1H period by controlling the source driver4 and the gate driver 5A, 5B, . . . , 5N through the controller 7.

The details of black insertion using a method of writing the videosignal and the black signal will be described using FIG. 8. In theexemplary embodiment of the present invention, the controller 7 inputs astart pulse signal (VSP_i) for writing the video lines of one or moretimes and a start pulse signal (VSP_b) for writing the black line of oneor more times to the gate driver, as shown in FIG. 8. The controller 7inputs the video signal start pulse signal (VSP_i) at the start of theframe, and sequentially turns ON the TFT of the display panel (liquidcrystal panel) while shifting (scanning) the lines of the screen by thegate driver.

The controller 7 inputs the black signal start pulse signal (VSP_b)within the frame period such as the middle according to the blackinsertion rate, and sequentially turns ON the TFT of the display panel(liquid crystal panel) while shifting (scanning) the lines of the screenby the gate driver.

When the controller 7 drive controls the gate driver in the abovemanner, a black insertion drive in which a black band scrolls the screendisplay at the display panel in one frame, and the black insertion rateis adjusted by changing the width of the black band is realized, asshown in FIG. 9B. As shown in FIG. 10, the black signal start pulse(VSP_b) can be input at an arbitrary timing as long as the lines of thevideo signal and the black signal are not simultaneously selected withone gate driver, and thus there is no limitation by timing of a break ofthe driver and the like.

A write polarity inversion drive according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention will now be described. In the black insertiondrive in which the black insertion rate can be adjusted, at which pixelof the display screen the black signal is used changes according to theblack insertion rate, and furthermore, the black signal is positioned inthe middle of the display screen at the switching of the frames of thevideo signal. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the controller 7performs a frame inversion on the write polarity for writing the videosignal, with a timing of inputting the image signal start pulse (VSP_i)as the base point, and independent therefrom, performs a frame inversionon the write polarity for writing the black signal, with a timing ofinputting the black signal start pulse (VSP_b) as a base point.

Therefore, the controller 7 outputs the video signal in which the blackline is inserted between the video lines to the source driver 4, outputsthe start pulse signal for writing the video lines and the start pulsesignal for writing the black line to the gate drivers 5A, 5B, . . . ,5N, and inverts the write polarity of the video signal and the writepolarity of the black signal in frame cycle to eliminate displayluminance difference and burning having the line at which the polarityinversion switches as a boundary generated by variation in field throughof the display panel surface and variation in positive and negative ofthe application voltage.

In the above configuration, the exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention is built as a hold type image display system serving ashardware, but the functions executed by the controller 7 may be built asa program to be processed in a personal computer. In this case, thecontrol program of the hold type image display system according to theexemplary embodiment of the present invention is built with aconfiguration for causing a computer to execute a function of outputtingthe video signal in which a black line is inserted between the videolines to the source driver, a function of outputting the start pulsesignal for writing the video lines and the start pulse signal forwriting a black line to the gate drivers, and a function of invertingthe write polarity of the video signal and the write polarity of theblack signal in frame cycle.

The exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be furtherdescribed using specific examples.

First Exemplary Embodiment

An example in which at least two gate drivers capable of collectivelyenabling the gate output with respect to a plurality of gate lines of adisplay panel are arranged will be described as a first exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1A, a display panel 1 of the image display device ofthe first exemplary embodiment of the present invention has aconfiguration in which m (m is a natural number) gate lines V1 to Vm andn (n is a natural number) source lines H1 to Hn are arrayed so as tointersect each other to a matrix form, and a pixel 6 is formed at eachintersection of the gate lines and the source lines. A source driver 4is connected to the source lines H1 to Hn, the gate lines V1 to Vn aredivided into a plurality of gate line groups, and gate drivers 5A to 5Nare connected to the gate lines of each gate line group.

In the example of FIG. 1A, the gate driver 5A is connected to the gatelines V1 to Vi of the gate line group, the gate driver 5B is connectedto the gate lines V(i+i) to Vj of the gate line group, and the gatedriver 5N is connected to the gate lines V(l+1) to Vm of the gate linegroup.

As shown in FIG. 1B, a circuit of the pixel 6 formed in the displaypanel 1 is configured by a thin-film transistor (TFT) 12 and a liquidcrystal layer 14. The source electrode of the thin-film transistor 12 isconnected to the source lines H1 to Hn, a gate electrode of the TFT 12is connected to the gate lines V1 to Vm, and a drain electrode of theTFT 12 is connected to a pixel electrode 13 formed on a glass substrate(not shown). A liquid crystal layer 14 is interposed between the pixelelectrode 13 and a common electrode 15 that form a pair. The circuitconfiguration of the pixel 6 is universal.

The video display by the pixels 6 of the display panel 1 is carried outwith the optical transmittance of the liquid crystal layer 14 controlledby the potential difference between the pixel electrode 13 and thecommon electrode 15. Specifically, when the video signal is written tothe pixel 6, the gate-ON signal (Vg1 to Vgm) transmitted via the gatelines V1 to Vm from the gate drivers 5A, 5B, . . . , 5N turns ON the TFT12 thereby applying the tone voltage, which corresponds to the videosignal provided from the source driver 4 to the source lines H1 to Hn,to the pixel electrode 13, and a video display on the display panel 1based on the video signal is realized while controlling the opticaltransmittance of the liquid crystal layer 14 by the potential differencebetween the voltage of the common electrode 15 and the tone voltage ofthe pixel electrode 13.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the image display device of the first exemplaryembodiment includes the controller 7 for controlling the operation ofthe source driver 4 and the gate drivers 5A to 5N. As shown in FIG. 1A,the controller 7 includes a black insertion signal converting unit 8, adrive control unit 9, and a black insertion setting unit 10. The blackinsertion signal converting unit 8 inserts a black image signal betweenthe lines of the video signal, that is, inserts the black image signalto the input video signal, creates a black insertion video signalcontaining a video signal portion and a black image signal portionwithin a horizontal scanning period, and outputs the same. The blackinsertion rate setting unit 10 determines the black insertion rate bydetermination of each user. The drive control unit 9 inputs, along withthe video signal inserted with the black signal output by the blackinsertion signal converting unit 8, a control signal of a drivercontaining a polarity inversion signal (POL) determined at a timingcorresponding to the black insertion rate determined in the blackinsertion setting unit 10 to the source driver 4 and the gate drivers 5Ato 5N.

In the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the drivecontrol unit 9 of the controller 7 inputs the video signal write enablesignal (VOE_i) for turning OFF the gate to the gate driver 5A during theperiod the source driver 4 outputs the black signal and inputs the blacksignal write enable signal (VOE_b) for turning OFF the gate to the gatedriver 5B during the period the source driver outputs the video signalwhen writing the video signal to one of the lines of the gate driver 5Aand writing the black signal to one of the lines of the gate driver 5Bin 1H period, as shown in FIG. 7A.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7B, when writing the black signal toone of the lines of the gate driver 5A and writing the video signal toone of the lines of the gate driver 5B in 1H period, the drive controlunit 9 inputs the black signal write enable signal (VOE_b) to the gatedriver 5A and inputs the video signal write enable signal (VOE_i) to thegate driver 5B.

The drive control unit 9 writes the video signal and the black signal totwo lines at different positions in 1H period by performing the abovecontrol.

Specifically describing, at least two gate drivers for collectivelyenabling the gate output are used, and each gate driver 5A to 5N iscontrolled by an output enable signal independent from each other fromthe drive control unit 9.

As shown in FIG. 2, one frame period includes a write period (horizontalscanning period) of the same number as the number (n) of source lines H1to Hn and a blanking period. The blanking period is set between the lastwrite period (video line N) of the previous frame period and the firstwrite period (video line 1) of the next frame period. In the firstexemplary embodiment of the present invention, assuming the portioncorresponding to the write period of the input video signal as a lineimage portion (horizontal scanning period portion), the black insertionsignal converting unit 8 inserts the black image signal between the lineimage portions in the input video signal and similarly inserts the blackimage signal to the blanking period in the input video signal (data ofsource driver input of FIG. 2). In FIG. 2, when writing the black imagesignal in the blanking period, a case of outputting a dummy signal(signal of dotted line pattern in FIG. 2) between the black imagesignals to be written is shown, but is not limited thereto. The blackinsertion signal converting unit 8 may similarly insert the black imagesignal in the case of the input video signal where there is not outputof dummy signal in the blanking period. Generally, the video signal inthe blanking period does not need to have the dummy signal outputbetween the black image signals when writing the black image signal tothe blanking period.

The source driver 4 receives a drive control signal start pulse (HSK), ahorizontal clock signal (HCK), a latch signal (DLP), a polarityinversion control signal (POL), and a black insertion signal (data), andalternately outputs the line image portion and the black image portionto the source lines H1 to Hn under the control of the polarity inversioncontrol signal (source driver output of FIG. 2).

In the first exemplary embodiment, when the drive control unit 9 inputsthe black insertion image signal created by the black insertion signalconverting unit 8 to the source driver 4, the source driver 4 drives thesource lines H1 to Hn at double speed and outputs the black insertionimage signal to the source lines H1 to Hn, but is not limited thereto,and the source driver 4 may adjust the output charge to the source linesH1 to Hn to the tone charge corresponding to black display, and outputthe input video signal to the source lines H1 to Hn while switching theoutput charge to the tone charge corresponding to the black display at aconstant interval, as shown in FIG. 11. With this, the black insertionsignal converting unit 8 does not need to be arranged, that is, the linememory necessary for the black image insertion can be reduced, and thedrive frequency of the source driver 4 involved in black image insertiondoes not need to be doubled.

The drive control unit 9 individually provides an output enable signalfor controlling opening/closing of the gate output by the gate drivers5A to 5N to the gate drivers 5A to 5N. Specifically, the drive controlunit 9 individually provides, to the gate drivers 5A to 5N, a videodisplay enable signal (VOE_i) for validating the output of the gate-ONsignal only during the period the line image portion of the blackinsertion video signal is being provided to the source lines H1 to Hn,or a black display enable signal (VOE_b) for validating the output ofthe gate-ON signal only during the period the black image portion of theblack insertion video signal is being provided to the source lines H1 toHn.

Accordingly, each gate driver 5A to 5N is divided into gate line groups,and collectively controls the output on the connected gate lines V1 toVi, V(i+i) to Vj, . . . , V(l+1) to Vm. Specifically, the gate drivers5A to 5N has a function serving as a video displaying device forsequentially providing a video display gate-ON signal of a pulse widthfor writing only the line image portion of the black insertion videosignal to the pixel 6 to the gate lines V1 to Vi, V(i+1) to Vj, V(l+1)to Vm in response to the VOE_i from the drive control unit 9 andsequentially executing the image display scanning, and a functionserving as a black displaying device sequentially providing a blackdisplay gate-ON signal of a pulse width for writing only the black imageportion of the black insertion image signal to the pixel 6 to the gatelines V1 to Vi, V(i+1) to Vj, . . . , V(l+1) to Vm in response to theVOE_b and sequentially executing the black image display scanning.

The drive control unit 9 outputs a video display scanning start pulse(VSP_i) for writing the video signal and a black display scanning startpulse (VSP_b) for writing the black image signal to the gate drivers 5Ato 5N one at a time at different timings in one frame period. The drivecontrol unit 9 outputs the VSP_i to the gate drivers 5A to 5N at thestart of video display scanning, and at the same time, starts to providethe VOE_i to the gate drivers 5A to 5N. When the video display scanningis terminated at the gate drivers 5A to 5N, the drive control unit 9starts to provide the VOE_b to the gate drivers 5A to 5N, and outputsthe VSP_b to the gate drivers 5A to 5N at a timing to start the blackimage display scanning.

Furthermore, the controller 7 includes the black insertion rate settingunit 10 for setting the timing of the black display start pulse (VSP_b)by the drive control unit 9 according to the operation environment.

The controller 7 includes the black insertion rate setting unit 10 inthe above description, but is not limited thereto. As shown in FIG. 1C,a black insertion rate setting unit 10 a may be arranged in place of theblack insertion rate setting unit 10. The black insertion rate settingunit 10 a is input with data of black insertion rate by the userirrespective of the input signal, and outputs the black insertion rateto the drive control unit 9. When the black insertion rate setting unit10 a is used, the user inputs the data of black insertion ratecorresponding to the in-plane luminance difference to the blackinsertion rate setting unit 10 a while looking at the screen. Therefore,the black insertion rate that complies with the user can be set.

The black insertion rate setting unit 10 has a function of determiningthe black image insertion rate for every frame period while referencingthe input video signal, and also has a function of setting the timing ofthe VSP_b output by the drive control unit 9 in correspondence to thedetermined black image insertion rate. Specifically, the black insertionrate setting unit 10 includes a frame memory (not shown) for temporarilystoring information for one frame of the input video signal sequentiallyinput for every frame; and a determining unit (not shown) for comparingthe video signal of one frame of the input video signal and the videosignal of the previous frame stored in the frame memory, and determiningthe optimum black image insertion rate based on the changed data.

Thus, the black image insertion rate for every frame period suited tothe driving method, the usage state, and the like of the display panel 1is determined, and the timing of the VSP_b output for realizing thedetermined black image insertion rate is set. The timing set here is thetiming at which the pixel lines for writing the video signal and forwriting the black image signal are not simultaneously selected with onegate driver.

For instance, when receiving the VSP_b from the drive control unit 9 ata timing set by the black insertion rate setting unit 10, the gatedriver 5A sequentially provides the VSP_b to the gate lines V1 to Vi asthe black display gate-ON signal based on the VOE_b provided in advance,and drive control unit 9 shift outputs the VSP_b to the next gate driver5B when scanning is terminated.

The drive control unit 9 provides the black insertion video signal(data), and also provides a signal start pulse (HSP), a horizontal clocksignal (HCK), a latch signal (DLP), and a polarity inverting controlsignal (POL), which are signals for drive controlling the source driver4, to the source driver 4, and provides a scanning start pulse (VSP_i orVSP_b), a vertical clock signal (VCK), and an enable signal (VOE_i orVOE_b), which are signals for drive controlling the gate drivers 5A to5N.

The source driver 4 starts retrieving data signal by input of HSP, andsequentially accumulates the data signal in a shift register arrangedinside in synchronization with the HCK. The source driver 4 confirms thedata signal by the input of DLP, and at the same time, confirms positiveor negative from the reference voltage according to POL, and outputs thetone voltage corresponding to the data signal to the source lines H1 toHn.

The polarity inverting control signal (POL) is a control signal forconfirming the polarity (positive or negative from the referencevoltage) of the tone voltage output from the source driver 4 to thesource lines H1 to Hn. The drive control unit 9 controls the POL,executes frame polarity inversion drive such as dot inversion andvertical 2-dot inversion drive shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, inverts the writepolarity of the line image portion in frame cycle of VSP_i base point,and inverts the write polarity of the black image portion in frame cycleof VSP_b base point.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart describing one example of the POL signal in thefirst exemplary embodiment using a case of dot inversion drive shown inFIG. 3 by way of example.

When the POL is high, for example, the source driver 4 outputs apositive voltage to the odd-numbered source lines H1, H3, H5, H7, . . .and a negative voltage to the even-numbered source lines H2, H4, H6, H8,and when the POL is low, for example, the source driver 4 outputs thenegative voltage to source lines H1, H3, H5, H7, . . . , and thepositive voltage to the even-numbered source lines H2, H4, H6, H8.

The drive control unit 9 counts 0 to 1 frame of the VSP_i base point bythe 1 bit frame counter of the VSP_i cycle, and at the same time counts0 to 3 by the 2 bit line counter of the DLP cycle from the VSP_i. Thedrive control unit 9 then generates an internal signal (POL_i) that isLow when line counter=2 in 0 frame, Low when line counter=0 in oneframe, and high in other cases.

The drive control unit 9 counts 0 to 1 frame of the VSP_b base point bythe 1 bit frame counter of the incorporated VSP_b cycle, and at the sametime counts 0 to 3 by the 2 bit line counter of the DLP cycle from theVSP_b. The drive control unit 9 then generates an internal signal(POL_b) that is Low when line counter=2 in 0 frame, Low when linecounter=0 in one frame, and high in other cases.

The drive control unit 9 finally outputs a POL, which is AND of theinternal signal (POL_i) and the internal signal (POL_b), to the sourcedriver 4. The source driver 4 inputs the POL as shown in FIG. 6 toexecute the dot inversion drive in which the write polarity of the lineimage portion inverts in frame cycle of VSP_i base point, and the writepolarity of the black image portion inverts in frame cycle of the VSP_bbase point.

According to such configuration, the drive control unit 9 can invert thepolarity of the video signal and the black signal in frame cycle havingindependent timings as the base point by simply incorporating a framecounter and a line counter for black signal inversion independently.

Therefore, the drive control unit 9 serves as a frame polarity invertingdevice for inverting the application voltage polarity to the pixelcorresponding to the video signal in frame cycle having the start ofvideo display scanning as the base point, and inverting the applicationvoltage polarity to the pixel corresponding to the black image signal inframe cycle having the start of black image display scanning as the basepoint by controlling the POL. Thus, DC voltage is prevented from beingapplied to the liquid crystal.

The black insertion signal converting unit 8, the drive control unit 9,and the black insertion rate setting unit 10 in the controller 7 mayhave the functional contents thereof programmed to be executed by acomputer.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are timing charts of a signal propagating through theimage display device of the first exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 7A is a timing chart for a case where the line image signal isprovided to the pixel 6 on the gate lines V1 to Vi corresponding to thegate driver 5A, and the black image signal is provided to the pixel 6 onthe gate lines V(i+1) to Vj corresponding to the gate driver 5B; andFIG. 7B is a timing chart for a case where the black image signal isprovided to the pixel 6 on the gate lines V1 to Vi corresponding to thegate driver 5A, and the line image signal is provided to the pixel 6 onthe gate lines V(i+1) to Vj corresponding to the gate driver 5B, incontrast to FIG. 7A.

As shown in FIG. 7A, the VOE_i is input to the gate driver 5A whenproviding the line image signal to the pixel 6 on the corresponding gatelines V1 to Vi, whereby the gate-ON signal is converted to the imagedisplay gate-ON signal having a pulse width same as the line imagesignal output period of the source driver 4, and is sequentiallyprovided to the gate lines V1 to Vi from the gate driver 5A.

The VOE_b is input to the gate driver 5B when providing the black imagesignal to the pixel 6 on the gate lines V(i+1) to Vj, whereby thegate-ON signal is converted to the black display gate-ON signal having apulse width same as the black image signal output period of the sourcedriver 4, and is sequentially provided to the gate lines V(i+1) to Vjfrom the gate driver 5B.

Thus, in the first exemplary embodiment, the video signal or the blackimage signal can be written to different pixel lines in 1H period (onehorizontal scanning period).

The operation of the image display device of the first exemplaryembodiment will now be described. FIG. 8 is a view describing theoperation of the image display device of the present exemplaryembodiment. Each step in the method of driving the image display deviceof the present invention will also be shown to be simultaneouslydescribed.

First, the black image insertion rate for every frame period isdetermined and set based on the video signal input by the blackinsertion rate setting unit 10 (black insertion rate setting step). Inthe black insertion signal converting unit 8, the black image signal isinserted between the line image portions of the input video signal, andoutput to the drive control unit 9 as a black insertion video signal(black insertion signal converting step).

When the black insertion video signal is output from the drive controlunit 9 to each source driver 4, various drive control signals are outputto the gate drivers 5A to 5N and each source driver 4 in synchronizationtherewith.

In the first exemplary embodiment, a plurality of gate drivers capableof collectively enabling the gate output is used, and the gate drivers5A to 5N are controlled by an independent output enable signal (VOE_i orVOE_b) from the drive control unit 9.

As shown in FIG. 2, the black insertion video signal is input from thedrive control unit 9 to the source driver 4. The source driver 4alternately outputs the video signal and the black image signal to thesource lines H1 to Hn based on the input black insertion video signal(black insertion video signal providing step).

As shown in FIG. 8, the VSP_i indicating the start of the frame is inputfrom the drive control 9 to the gate driver 5A along with the VOE_i(video start pulse input step), which VSP_i shifts the gate lines V1 toVi as a gate-ON signal in synchronization with the similarly input clocksignal (VCK) and turns ON the TFT 12 of the pixel 6 on each gate line V1to Vi. Meanwhile, the VOE_i is input to the gate driver 5A.

Subsequently, when scanning in the gate driver 5A is terminated, theVSP_i is shift input to the gate driver 5B, and at the same time, theVOE_i is input to the gate driver 5B from the drive control unit 9. Inthe gate driver 5B, the VSP_i shifts the corresponding gate lines V(i+1)to Vj as a gate-ON signal, and the VOE_i is input to the gate driver 5Bduring the shifting period. The VSP_i is then similarly shift input tothe gate driver 5N, and at the same time, the VOE_i is input from thedrive control unit 9. In the gate driver 5N as well, the VSP_i shiftsthe corresponding gate lines V(l+1) to Vm as a gate-ON signal, and theVOE_i is input during the shifting period (video scanning step). TheVOE_b is input to the gate drivers 5A to 5N at other than the aboveperiods.

The VSP_b from the drive control unit 9 is input to the gate driver 5Aonce within the frame period according to the timing determined by theblack insertion rate setting unit 10 (black display start pulse inputstep), and similarly, the VSP_b shifts the corresponding gate lines V1to Vi as a gate-ON signal by the clock signal (VCK) of the gate driver5A and turns ON the TFT of the pixel 6 on each gate line V1 to Vi.During such black image display scanning, the VOE_b is input to the gatedriver 5A.

When the black image display scanning in the gate driver 5A isterminated, the VSP_b is shift input to the gate driver 5B, and theVSP_b shifts the corresponding gate lines V(i+1) to Vj as a gate-ONsignal. The VOE_b is also input to the gate driver 5B during theshifting period. Thereafter, the VSP_b is shift input to the gate driver5N, similarly, and the black image display scanning in the gate driver5N is started (black scanning step).

Therefore, in the first exemplary embodiment, the video display scanningstart pulse (VSP_i) input for writing the video signal of one time andthe black display scanning start pulse (VSP_b) input for writing theblack image signal of one time are performed on the gate driver 5Awithin one frame period.

According to such configuration, the screen display realizes a blackimage insertion drive in which the black band scrolls through the screenduring one frame, as shown in FIG. 9B. The width of the black band isdetermined by the timing of input of the black display scanning startpulse (VSP_b) with respect to the input of the video display scanningstart pulse (VSP_i). Furthermore, according to the first exemplaryembodiment, the holding time of the video signal and the holding time ofthe black image signal become constant at all the pixels 6 in the screenby continuing the write of the black image signal in the blanking periodbetween the frames, as shown in FIG. 8, and the in-plane luminancedifference caused by the difference in holding times can be eliminated.

The VSP_b can be input at an arbitrary timing as long as it is a timingat which the pixel line of the video signal and the black image signalis not simultaneously selected by one gate driver as in the black VSPsettable range shown in FIG. 10, and restrictions such as timing ofbreak of the gate driver as in the display device of the related art arenot imposed. The black insertion rate thus can be finely adjusted, andan optimum black insertion rate corresponding to the usage environmentcan be set in view of the balance between the effect of reducing themoving image blur, which is the merit of black image insertion, andlowering in luminance, which is the demerit of black image insertion.

In the first exemplary embodiment, the optimum black insertion drive canbe applied regardless of the liquid crystal driving method according tothe display panel 1, which may be TN type, IPS type, VA type, OCB type,or the like.

Furthermore, the video signal is frame inverted with the input of theVSP_i as the base point (video signal polarity inversion step), andindependent therefrom, the black signal is frame inverted with the inputof the VSP_b as the base point (black image signal polarity inversionstep) when the drive control unit 9 controls the POL, as shown in FIG.8.

According to such configuration, the order of inversion is preventedfrom reversing near the center of the screen, and display luminancedifference and burning with the line at which the polarity inversionswitches as the boundary caused by variation in the field through of thedisplay panel 1 surface and the variation in positive and negative ofthe application voltage are eliminated. Furthermore, since thisconfiguration merely has the drive control unit 9 independently equippedwith the black signal inversion counter, the cost does not increase, andswitching of the black insertion rate can be flexibly responded.

In the first exemplary embodiment, the moving image blur is alleviatedby inserting the black image display between each video frame in theimage display device, but it is not limited to black display, and graydisplay such as gray may be inserted. In this case, lowering inluminance can be suppressed in addition to reducing the moving imageblur but the contrast with the color region lowers, and thus aconfiguration of setting an optimum gray insertion rate in view of suchis adopted.

In the first exemplary embodiment, the black insertion rate setting unit10 determines the black image insertion rate for every frame period byreferencing the input video signal, and sets the timing to input theVSP_b to the gate driver 5A according to the determined black imageinsertion rate, but the configuration is not limited thereto, and theblack insertion rate setting unit 10 may set the timing to input VSP_bto the gate driver 5A according to the timing data externally inputthrough operation of the user or the like.

The first exemplary embodiment described above can change the blackimage insertion rate by changing the timing to input the VSP_b to thegate driver 5A, can perform normal drive in which the black imageinsertion is not performed by not inputting the VSP_b, and can easilyswitch the black image insertion rate. Therefore, when used in monitors,a bright screen with small amount of flickers is provided withoutperforming black insertion, and for moving image display such as TV, ascreen performed with black insertion is provided for reducing movingimage blur, and thus a display corresponding to the usage state of theuser can be provided.

Applications such as continuously switching the black image insertionrate depending on the scene of the video such as from a static screendisplaying landscape etc. to an active screen displaying sports etc. arealso possible.

The first exemplary embodiment can also prevent display luminancedifference and burning having the line at which the polarity inversionswitches as a boundary caused by variation in field through of thedisplay panel 1 surface and variation in positive and negative of theapplication voltage since the video signal and the black signal have thewrite polarity inverted in frame cycle having the timing independentfrom each other as the base point.

Second Exemplary Embodiment

Next, a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed.

FIG. 12 is a view showing a configuration of an image display device ofa second exemplary embodiment according to the present invention. Samereference numerals are denoted for components same as in the firstexemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1A. As shown in FIG. 12, the secondexemplary embodiment has a backlight 21 arranged at the rear surface ofthe display panel 1 when seen from the user, in addition to theconfiguration similar to the first exemplary embodiment. A blackinsertion rate setting unit 20 has a function of temporarily storinginformation for one frame of the input video signal sequentially inputfor every frame, and comparing the video signal of one frame of theinput video signal and the video signal of the previous frame that istemporarily stored to determine the black image insertion rate and thelight control luminance of the backlight based on the changed number ofdata, and a drive control unit 29 has a function of adjusting the lightcontrol luminance of the backlight 21 based on the determination of theblack insertion rate setting unit 20.

Similar to the first exemplary embodiment, the VSP_b from the drivecontrol unit 9 is input to the gate driver 5A according to the timingdetermined by the black insertion rate setting unit 20, where the videosignal is frame inverted with the input of the VSP_i as the base point,and independent therefrom, the black signal is frame inverted with theinput of the VSP_b as the base point when the drive control unit 9controls the POL.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the black insertion ratesetting unit 20 in the image display device of the second exemplaryembodiment.

The black insertion rate setting unit 20 compares current frame data“data (n)” and previous frame data “data (n−1)”, and counts the changeddata for one frame (FIG. 13: steps S91 to S93). The counted informationis moving averaged over a few frames and smoothened (FIG. 13: step S95),and threshold determined (FIG. 13: step S96) to determine whether theimage is a static image or a dynamic image.

If the determination result suggests static image, black insertion isnot performed for example, and the light control luminance of thebacklight 21 is set to be 50% (FIG. 13: step S98), whereas if thedetermination result suggests dynamic image, the black insertion rate isswitched to be 50% for example, to reduce the moving image blur and thelight control luminance of the backlight 21 is switched to be 100% (FIG.13: step S97, black insertion rate setting step).

According to such configuration, the black insertion rate can beswitched according to the scene of the video, and the moving image blurcan be reduced as necessary. The light of the backlight 21 is controlledwith the black image insertion because the transmissive efficiency ofthe panel lowers in exchange for improvement of the moving image blur byblack image insertion, as shown in FIG. 14. With this, the change inluminance due to switching of black insertion can be prevented, and inthe case of static video where black image insertion is unnecessary,power consumption can be reduced by performing light control of thebacklight 21.

Another example of the operation of the black insertion rate settingunit 20 in the second exemplary embodiment is shown in FIGS. 15 to 17.

Another method for the black insertion rate setting unit 20 to determinethe black image insertion rate and the light control luminance of thebacklight includes, firstly, dividing one frame into a plurality ofblocks set in advance, as shown in FIG. 15. And then, the distance theimage of an arbitrary block moves from the previous frame to the currentframe is calculated, as shown in FIG. 16.

The method of calculating the distance includes detecting the positionof the block of the previous frame and the block in which the averageabsolute value error is the smallest from the current frame using treesearch method and the like, and obtaining the distance the relevantblock has moved.

The maximum value of the calculated movement distance of each block, andthe black insertion rate and the light control luminance of thebacklight 21 at the relevant point are shown in FIG. 17. According tosuch configuration, the power consumption of the backlight can bereduced by continuously switching the black insertion rate according tothe movement of the scene of the video, and performing the black imageinsertion of requisite minimum according to the extent of movement.

Another exemplary embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed. A hold type image display system according to the exemplaryembodiment of the present invention relates to an image display deviceequipped with a display panel in which a plurality of gate lines and aplurality of source lines are arranged respectively intersecting eachother in a grid form, a pixel being formed at each intersection of thegate lines and the source lines; the image display device including animage scanning device for executing an image display scanning fordisplaying a video on a display panel according to an input videosignal; a black scanning device for starting and executing a black imagedisplay scanning for displaying a black screen on a display panel at anarbitrary timing within one video frame period in the video displayscanning; and a frame polarity inverting device for inverting thepolarity of an application voltage to the pixel by the video scanningdevice in frame cycle having the start of video display scanning as abase point, and inverting the polarity of an application voltage to thepixel by the black scanning device in frame cycle having the start ofblack image display scanning as the base point.

According to such image display device, in a liquid crystal displaydevice for performing black insertion drive by inserting a black imagein one frame, the video signal and the black signal have the writepolarity inverted at the frame cycle having independent timings as thebase point, respectively, and thus the display luminance difference andburning having the line at which the polarity inversion switches as aboundary caused by variation in field through of the display panelsurface and variation in positive and negative of the applicationvoltage can be prevented.

The hold type image display device according to the exemplary embodimentof the present invention includes a display panel having a configurationin which a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of source lines arearranged respectively intersecting each other in a grid form, a pixelbeing formed at each intersection of the gate lines and the sourcelines; a source driver for providing a black insertion video signalalternately including a line image portion and a black image portion toeach source line; and a plurality of gate drivers arranged with respectto gate line groups, the plurality of gate lines being divided into anumber of groups, for sequentially providing a gate-ON signal to eachcorresponding gate line; and a drive control unit for individuallyproviding an output enable signal to each gate driver and independentlycontrolling the gate output of each gate driver; where the drive controlunit has a function of outputting a video start pulse for writing theline image portion to a first gate driver and outputting a black displaystart pulse for writing the black image portion to a first gate driverat an arbitrary timing within one video frame period, and inverting thewrite polarity of the line image portion in frame cycle having theoutput of the video start pulse as a base point and inverting the writepolarity of the black image portion in frame cycle having the output ofthe black display start pulse as a base point.

According to such image display device, the gate driver is arranged foreach gate line group formed from a plurality of gate lines, the enableof each gate driver is individually controlled, and the black displaystart pulse is input to the gate driver at a timing different from thevideo start pulse, and thus the ratio between the video display time andthe black image display time in the black insertion drive (hereinafterreferred to as black video insertion rate) can be continuously adjustedinstead of being driver segmented. Furthermore, since the image signaland the black signal have the write polarity inverted in frame cyclewith independent timing as the base point, display luminance differenceand burning having the line at which the polarity inversion switchescaused by variation in field through of the display panel surface andvariation in positive and negative of the application voltage can beprevented.

In such image display device, the drive control unit may also variablycontrol the timing of output of a black display start pulse with respectto output of a video start pulse. With this, the black image insertionrate for every frame can be arbitrarily changed by changing the timingof the black display start pulse output.

In the above image display device, the drive control unit may have afunction of individually providing to each gate driver a video displayenable signal for validating the gate output of the gate driver onlyduring the period the line image portion of the black insertion videosignal is being provided to the source line, or a black display enablesignal for validating the gate output of the gate driver only during theperiod the black image portion of the black insertion video signal isbeing provided to the source line. With this, the execution of the videodisplay scanning or the black image display scanning can be individuallycontrolled with respect to each gate driver.

In the above image display device, each gate driver may provide to thecorresponding gate line, the video display gate-ON signal for writingonly the line portion of the black insertion image signal to the pixelaccording to the video display enable signal, and provide to thecorresponding gate line the black display gate-ON signal for writingonly the black image portion of the black insertion video signal to thepixel according to the black display enable signal. With this, each gatedriver can switch and execute the video display scanning or the blackimage display scanning.

The image display device may also includes a black insertion ratesetting unit for setting the timing of the black display start pulseoutput by the drive control unit according to the operation environment.With this, the black image insertion rate for every frame can be setfrom a large range according to each usage state.

Further, in the above image display device, the black insertion ratesetting unit may have a function of determining the black imageinsertion rate for every frame period based on the input video signal,and the timing of the black display start pulse output may be set basedon the determined black image insertion rate. With this, the black imageinsertion rate can be set according to the content of the displayingvideo.

Further, in the image display device, the black insertion rate settingunit may have a function of temporarily storing information for oneframe of the input video signal sequentially input for every frame, andcomparing the video signal of one frame of the input video signal andthe video signal of the previous frame that is temporarily stored todetermine the black image insertion rate based on the changed data. Withthis, the optimum black image insertion rate can be determined accordingto the content of the displaying image.

Furthermore, the image display device may also include a backlightarranged at the rear surface of the display panel, where the blackinsertion rate setting unit may have a function of temporarily storinginformation for one frame of the input video signal sequentially inputfor every frame, and comparing the video signal of one frame of theinput video signal and the video signal of the previous frame that istemporarily stored to determine the black image insertion rate and thelight control luminance of the backlight based on the changed data. Withthis, the backlight is light controlled according to black insertion,and black insertion drive can be executed while preventing change inluminance due to switching of black insertion.

Furthermore, in the above image display device, the drive control unitmay provide the image display enable signal to the gate driver for shiftoutputting the gate-ON signal to each corresponding gate line accordingto the video start pulse input until such shift output is terminated,and may provide the black display enable signal to other gate drivers.With this, the black display start pulse input with respect to the gatedriver at a timing of high degree of flexibility becomes possible, andthe black image insertion rate can be continuously adjusted.

Furthermore, the image display device may include a black insertionsignal converting unit for inserting the black image signal between theline image portions in the input image signal, and outputting to thesource driver as a black insertion video signal. With this, the blackinsertion video signal for the source driver to alternately output theline image portion and the black image portion to each source line isobtained.

In the above image display device, the black insertion video signal mayalso include the black image signal even in a blanking period in theinput video signal. With this, the write of black is performed withoutstopping even in the blanking period between the frames with respect tothe write of the black signal over a plurality of video frames, and thusthe in-plane luminance difference caused by difference in black imageholding periods in the display panel can be eliminated.

In the image display device, the black insertion video signal mayinclude a gray signal in place of the black image signal. With this, thelowering in luminance due to black insertion drive is alleviated.

A method of driving a hold type image display device according to anexemplary embodiment is a method of driving an image display deviceincluding a display panel in which a plurality of gate lines and aplurality of source lines are arranged respectively intersecting eachother in a grid form, a pixel being formed at each intersection of thegate lines and the source lines; a source driver for providing a videosignal to each source line; a plurality of gate drivers, arranged withrespect to gate line groups, a plurality of gate lines being dividedinto a number of groups, for sequentially providing a gate-ON signal toeach corresponding gate line; and a drive control unit for individuallyproviding an output enable signal to each gate driver; the methodincluding a black insertion video signal providing step in which thesource driver starts to provide to each source line a black insertionvideo signal alternately including a line image portion and a blackimage portion; a video start pulse input step in which the drive controlunit inputs, to a first gate driver, a video display start pulse forwriting the line image portion in synchronization with the blackinsertion video signal providing step; an image scanning step in whichan image display scanning of sequentially providing to each gate line avideo display gate-ON signal for writing only the line image portion ofthe black insertion video signal to the pixel is executed in order fromthe first gate driver; a black display start pulse input step in whichthe drive control unit inputs, to the first gate driver, a black displaystart pulse for writing the black image portion at an arbitrary timingwithin one video frame; a black scanning step in which a black imagedisplay scanning of sequentially providing, to each gate line, a blackdisplay gate-ON signal for writing only the black image portion of theblack insertion video signal to the pixel is executed in order from thefirst gate driver; a video signal polarity inverting step of invertingthe write polarity of the line image portion in frame cycle having theoutput of the video start pulse as a base point; and a black signalpolarity inverting step of inverting the write polarity of the blackimage portion in frame cycle having the output of the black displaystart pulse as a base point.

In such driving method, each gate driver may output the video displaygate-ON signal according to the video display enable signal forvalidating the gate output of the gate driver only during the period theline image portion of the black insertion video signal is being providedto the source line in the video scanning step, and each gate driver mayoutput the black display gate-ON signal according to the black displayenable signal for validating the gate output of the gate driver onlyduring the period the black image portion of the black insertion videosignal is being provided to the source line in the black scanning step.

The above driving method may include a black insertion rate setting stepof setting the timing of the black display start pulse output by thedrive control unit according to the operation environment.

According to the above driving method, in the black insertion ratesetting step, information for one frame of the input video signalsequentially input for every frame may be temporarily stored, the videosignal of one frame of the input video signal and the video signal ofthe previous frame that is temporarily stored may be compared todetermine the black image insertion rate based on the changed data, andthe timing of the black display start pulse output is set based on thedetermined black image insertion rate.

Furthermore, according to the driving method, in the black insertingrate setting step, information for one frame of the input video signalsequentially input for every frame may be temporarily stored, the videosignal of one frame of the input video signal and the video signal ofthe previous frame that is temporarily stored may be compared todetermine the black image insertion rate and the light control luminanceof the backlight arranged at the rear surface of the display panel inadvance based on the changed data, and the timing of the black displaystart pulse output and the light control luminance of the backlight areset based on such determination.

The driving method may includes a black insertion signal converting stepof inserting the black image signal between the line image portions inthe input image signal, and outputting to the source driver as a blackinsertion video signal, before the black insertion video signalproviding step.

In the above driving method, the black insertion image signal mayinclude the black image signal even in a blanking period in the inputvideo signal.

In the above method of driving the image display device, the blackinsertion video signal may include a gray signal in place of the blackimage signal.

Similar to the image display device, according to the above method ofdriving the image display device, the black insertion rate can be finelyset in view of the balance between reducing the moving image blur, whichis the merit, and lowering in luminance, which is the demerit, anddisplay luminance difference and burning having the line at which thepolarity inversion switches caused by variation in field through in thedisplay panel surface and variation in positive and negative of theapplication voltage can be prevented.

An image display device driving program according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention may cause a computer for controllingthe operation of the image display device to execute processes, theimage display device including a display panel in which a plurality ofgate lines and a plurality of source lines are arranged respectivelyintersecting each other in a grid form, a pixel being formed at eachintersection of the gate lines and the source lines; a source driver forproviding a video signal to each source line; and a plurality of gatedrivers, arranged with respect to gate line groups, the plurality ofgate lines being divided to groups, for sequentially providing thegate-ON signal to each corresponding gate line; where the program causesthe computer to execute a video signal providing process of outputting ablack insertion video signal alternately including a line image portionand a black image portion from the source driver to each source line; adrive controlling process of individually providing an output enablesignal to each gate driver and independently controlling the gate outputof each gate driver; a video start pulse output process of outputting avideo start pulse input for writing the line image portion to a firstgate driver; a black display start pulse output process of outputting ablack display start pulse for writing the black image portion to thefirst gate driver at an arbitrary timing within one video frame; a videosignal polarity inverting process of inverting a write polarity of theline image portion in frame cycle having the output of the video startpulse as a base point; and a black signal polarity inverting process ofinverting a write polarity of the black image portion in frame cyclehaving the output of the black display start pulse as a base point.

In the above image display device driving program, the drive controllingprocess may be specified to a content of individually providing to eachgate driver a video display enable signal for validating the gate outputof the gate driver only during the period the line image portion of theblack insertion video signal is being provided to the source line, or ablack display enable signal for validating the gate output of the gatedriver only during the period the black image portion of the blackinsertion video signal is being provided to the source line.

Furthermore, the image display device driving program may cause thecomputer to execute a black insertion rate setting process of settingthe timing of the black display scanning process according to theoperation environment.

In the above image display device driving program, the black insertionrate setting process may be specified to a content of temporarilystoring information for one frame of the input video signal sequentiallyinput for every frame, comparing the video signal of one frame of theinput video signal and the video signal of the previous frame that istemporarily stored to determine the black image insertion rate for everyframe period based on the changed data, and setting the timing of theblack display scanning process based on the determined black imageinsertion rate.

Furthermore, according to the above image display device drivingprogram, the black inserting rate setting process may be specified to acontent of temporarily storing information for one frame of the inputvideo signal sequentially input for every frame, comparing the videosignal of one frame of the input video signal and the video signal ofthe previous frame that is temporarily stored to determine the blackimage insertion rate and the light control luminance of the backlightarranged at the rear surface of the display panel in advance based onthe changed number of data, and setting the timing to start the blackdisplay scanning for every gate line group and the light controlluminance of the backlight based on such determination.

The above image display device driving program may cause a computer toexecute a black insertion video signal creating process of inserting theblack image signal between the line image portions in the input videosignal, and outputting to the source driver as a black insertion videosignal.

In the above image display device driving program, the black insertionvideo signal may include the black image signal even in a blankingperiod in the input video signal.

In the above image display device driving program, the black insertionvideo signal may include a gray signal in place of the black imagesignal.

Similar to the image display device, according to the image displaydevice driving program, the black image insertion rate can be finely setin view of the balance between reducing the moving image blur, which isthe merit, and lowering in luminance, which is the demerit, and displayluminance difference and burning having the line at which the polarityinversion switches caused by variation in field through in the displaypanel surface and variation in positive and negative of the applicationvoltage can be prevented.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to exemplary embodiments thereof, the invention is not limitedto these embodiments. It will be understood by those of ordinary skillin the art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention asdefined by the claims.

1. A hold type image display system for displaying a video on a displaypanel by controlling a video signal to be input to a source line and agate line of the display panel, the hold type image display systemcomprising: a source driver for outputting a video signal to the sourceline; a gate driver for outputting a scanning signal to the gate line;and a controller for receiving an input video signal and therebycontrolling the source driver and the gate driver; wherein thecontroller outputs a video signal in which a black or gray line isinserted between video lines to the source driver, outputs a start pulsesignal for writing the video lines for one or more times and a startpulse signal for writing black or gray lines for one or more times tothe gate driver within one frame period, and inverts a write polarity ofthe video signal and a write polarity of the black or gray signal inframe cycle; and the controller scrolls a black band in a screen of thedisplay panel during one frame.
 2. The hold type image display systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the controller inverts the write polarityof the video signal with a point of writing the video signal to a firstline of the frame as a base point, and inverts the write polarity of theblack or gray signal with a point of writing the black or gray signal tothe first line of the frame as a base point.
 3. The hold type imagedisplay system according to claim 1, wherein the controller changes atiming of input of the start pulse signal to the gate driver to writethe black or gray lines with respect to input of the start pulse signalto the gate driver to write the video signal based on black or grayinsertion rate information.
 4. The hold type image display systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the controller determines a black or grayinsertion rate according to a display, and changes a timing of input ofthe start pulse signal to the gate driver to write the black or graylines with respect to input of the start pulse signal to the gate driverto write the video lines based on the determined black or gray insertionrate.
 5. The hold type image display system according to claim 1,wherein the controller outputs the black or gray line signals to thesource driver during a blanking period existing between preceding andfollowing frame periods.
 6. The hold type image display system accordingto claim 1, further comprising a backlight on a rear surface of thedisplay panel; wherein the controller compares the preceding andfollowing video signals in one frame unit, and adjusts a relationshipbetween a black or gray insertion rate and a light control luminance ofthe backlight based on the comparison result.
 7. A control system of ahold type image display system for drive displaying a video on a displaypanel by controlling a video signal to a source line of the displaypanel in a source driver and controlling a signal to a gate line of thedisplay panel in a gate driver; the control system comprising: acontroller for receiving an input video signal and thereby controllingthe source driver and the gate driver; wherein the controller outputs avideo signal in which a black or gray line is inserted between videolines to the source driver, outputs a start pulse signal for writing thevideo lines for one or more times and a start pulse signal for writingblack or gray lines for one or more times to the gate driver within oneframe period, and inverts a write polarity of the video signal and awrite polarity of the black or gray signal in frame cycle; and thecontroller scrolls a black band in a screen of the display panel duringone frame.
 8. The control system of the hold type image display systemaccording to claim 7, wherein the controller inverts the write polarityof the video signal with a point of writing the video signal to a firstline of the frame as a base point, and inverts the write polarity of theblack or gray signal with a point of writing the black or gray signal tothe first line of the frame as a base point.
 9. The control device ofthe hold type image display system according to claim 7, wherein thecontroller changes a timing of input of the start pulse signal to thegate driver to write the black or gray lines with respect to input ofthe start pulse signal to the gate driver to write the video lines basedon black or gray insertion rate information.
 10. The control device ofthe hold type image display system according to claim 7, wherein thecontroller determines a black or gray insertion rate according to adisplay, and changes a timing of input of the start pulse signal to thegate driver to write the black or gray lines with respect to input ofthe start pulse signal to the gate driver to write the video lines basedon the determined black or gray insertion rate.
 11. The control deviceof the hold type image display system according to claim 10, wherein thecontroller outputs the black or gray line signals to the source driverduring a blanking period existing between preceding and following frameperiods.
 12. The control device of the hold type image display systemaccording to claim 7, wherein the controller compares the preceding andfollowing image signals in one frame unit, and adjusts a relationshipbetween a light control luminance of a backlight arranged on a rearsurface of the display panel and the black or gray insertion rate basedon the comparison result.
 13. A hold type image display method fordisplaying a video on a display panel by controlling a video signal to asource line of a display panel in a source driver and controlling asignal to a gate line of the display panel in a gate driver, the holdtype image display method comprising: outputting a video signal in whicha black or gray line is inserted between video lines to the sourcedriver; outputting a start pulse signal for writing the video lines forone or more times and a start pulse signal for writing black or graylines for one or more times to the gate driver within one frame period;scrolling a black band in a screen of the display panel during oneframe; and inverting a write polarity of the video signal and a writepolarity of the black or gray signal in frame cycle.
 14. The hold typeimage display method according to claim 13, wherein the write polarityof the video signal is inverted with a point of writing the video signalto a first line of the frame as a base point, and the write polarity ofthe black or gray signal is inverted with a point of writing the blackor gray signal to the first line of the frame as a base point.
 15. Thehold type image display method according to claim 13, wherein a timingof input of the start pulse signal to the gate driver to write the blackor gray lines with respect to input of the start pulse signal to thegate driver to write the video lines is changed based on black or grayinsertion rate information.
 16. The hold type image display methodaccording to claim 13, wherein a black or gray insertion rate isdetermined according to a display, and a timing of input of the startpulse signal to the gate driver to write the black or gray lines withrespect to input of the start pulse signal to the gate driver to writethe video lines is changed based on the determined black or grayinsertion rate.
 17. The hold type image display method according toclaim 13, wherein the black or gray line signals are output to thesource driver during a blanking period existing between preceding andfollowing frames periods.
 18. The hold type image display methodaccording to claim 13, the preceding and following video signals of oneframe unit are compared, and a relationship between a light controlluminance of backlight arranged on a rear surface of the display paneland a black or gray insertion rate is adjusted based on the comparisonresult.